


Happy Medium

by junggigo



Category: Infinite (Band), K-pop
Genre: M/M, woogyu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-01 08:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8616010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junggigo/pseuds/junggigo
Summary: Woohyun thinks he's too spontaneous, which makes Sunggyu start to think he's stuck in a rut. Maybe the budding friendship will help the two better themselves.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just really love woogyu and my last woogyu fic was depressing so I wanted to write something a little happier. I also think I projected onto them a lot... And the location is super ambiguous but I kinda pictured it like a generic, calm neighborhood in Queens. I kinda had Ridgewood in mind as I wrote this, but that's more about the atmosphere than the actual location.

Sunggyu wasn’t really that into soccer, but Howon was nice enough to invite him out to cheer him up, so he figured he’d go. Howon threw viewing parties all the time, but Sunggyu couldn’t remember ever going to a single one. He woke up that morning, instantly flooded with anxiety.

_ Do you bring something to one of these? It’s not like a dinner party. Wait, what if it is. Is it a dinner party? _

He pulled out his phone and went over the cheesy facebook event Howon had made. It seemed casual enough.

_ How casual? Jeans? Should I wear black jeans? A polo? Is a t-shirt decent? _

He went to text Howon all these questions, knowing that he wouldn’t be bothered, but decided it was immature of him regardless.

It was only 8 AM, and the party wasn’t til 5 that evening, but Sunggyu was already sifting through his closet, tossing outfits around. He thought about what he’d seen of people watching sports on TV, but he could only recall images of drunk football fans eating hot wings in dirty bars.  _ Surely this is classier than that. _

Sunggyu groaned in frustration and swung his closet door shut, kicking his heels as he turned towards the kitchen.

He mindlessly watched the news as he sipped his coffee, stress building up in his gut.  _ Who’s even going? _ He pulled his phone again and pored over the page. The names generally sounded foreign to him.

“What to do at a viewing party…” He mumbled as he typed away into Google. He groaned when all the results were about  _ hosting _ parties. There were mentions of alcohol, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this could work.

Sunggyu’s biggest comfort was knowing there were low expectations of him. Howon knew he had issues with anxiety and would never make him do anything that went beyond his comfort zone. He was a good, understanding friend that just wanted to make sure Sunggyu had been alright after a recent break up had numbed him a bit.

The rest of the day went similarly. Deciding on ten different outfits, deciding none were decent, pacing and debating calling Howon, before finally getting dressed and heading out the door.

He hunched his shoulders as he got to Howon’s apartment. Before he even finished knocking, his friend opened the door and greeted him with a big smile and a secure embrace. “I’m glad you made it, man.” He said, leading Sunggyu into the kitchen. He avoided looking into the living room where a lively group of people were already shouting around the television.

“Help yourself to whatever.” Howon shrugged. “Make yourself at home. And relax. There’s booze all around. Just open a cabinet and figure something out.” He chuckled and clasped Sunggyu on the shoulder before retreating back to the commotion.

Sunggyu pulled a beer out of the fridge and idly sipped at it, too nervous to really do much more. He turned his attention to survey the crowd. There was a chic looking kid who was already looking sleepily drunk next to the only girl in the room who looked a weird combination of nervous and pissed, but still seemed to be really enjoying herself. Across the room next to Howon was Dongwoo - Howon’s best friend, who Sunggyu was relieved to see.  _ Someone else I know. _ He grimaced, realizing that  _ two  _ wasn’t a number to be proud of. There was a feminine looking kid who was familiar. He sat legs crossed leaning forward, phone in hand but intently looking at the television. He didn’t seem the type to be into soccer, either, but he was definitely animated.

Something happened on the screen and a stranger shot up from the center of the couch and started shouting and waving his arms. He yelled some bad pun and laughed at himself before turning and jogging over to the kitchen. Sunggyu froze and looked for something to be doing, but found nothing as the kid strolled in behind him.

“Hey!” He breathed. “That was a beautiful play.”

Sunggyu looked at the TV, wide eyed, and nodded slowly. “Yep.”

The kid threw his head back and laughed. “What, aren’t you into soccer?”

Sunggyu cracked an embarrassed smile. “I won’t lie, it’s not my thing. I’m just a friend of Howon’s.” He said, nodding his bottle toward the living room.

The kid reached around Sunggyu and grabbed a beer from the fridge. “That’s cool.” He shifted his weight and reached a hand out to Sunggyu. “I’m Woohyun.” Sunggyu shook his hand and instantly flushed realizing how clammy he must have been. Woohyun didn’t seem to notice, or at least mind. “You should come sit with us.” He said, jerking his head back towards the room as he walked out.

Sunggyu took a short breather and followed in, sitting in a soft chair slightly behind the couch, thankfully next to Howon. He didn’t really understand the game, but getting into it was easy given the energy in the room. The girl next to Sunggyu (the girl there with the chic looking guy), who Sunggyu learned was named Krystal, turned out to be a lot friendlier than she looked. Howon was so excited to have such a loud group together, even if it were only seven of them, that he was in high spirits the whole time. Sunggyu was completely distracted from his depression.

Every time something happened (Sunggyu slowly started to learn the game, with generous help from Howon and Dongwoo) Woohyun would leap out his seat and shouted. The chic kid (Sunggyu learned was named Myungsoo) would laugh or be unphased, and the feminine kid (Sungjong) would roll his eyes or tell him to be quiet. It was clear they were all very close. Sunggyu wouldn’t say he felt close, but he definitely started to feel comfortable. And three beers down helped with that a lot.

That being said, Sunggyu was more than ready to leave by the end of the game. Howon saw him out, all smiles.

“I appreciate you coming over, man. I hope you’re feeling better.” He slapped him on the arm. “It’s hella lame seeing you so down. Let me know when you’re feeling like shit, dude, and we can chill.”

Sunggyu nodded. “That means a lot. Thanks.”

He turned and made it a few steps down the street before an unnecessarily loud cry of “WAIT UP!” came from behind him. He turned to see Woohyun jogging up and almost running into him - he was, after all, less than 10 feet from the front door. Woohyun angled up next to him. “I’m going this way too.”

The kid was drunk, but Sunggyu didn’t mind. He was only anxious about this stranger hurting himself. He already gave an impression of recklessness, and Sunggyu started worrying about having to take care of him or keep him from getting hurt.

“Did you have fun? Do you get soccer now?”

Sunggyu couldn’t help but laugh. “I had  _ fun _ .” He said.

Woohyun laughed in response. “You should come hang more often then. You’ll get the hang of it. Krystal had no idea what offsides was until she’d sat through three games.” He almost doubled over in laughter at the idea.

Sunggyu chuckled. “Well I don’t either.”

Woohyun straightened up and got a serious look on his face. “Don’t worry, there’s time.”

Sunggyu laughed. Woohyun was a pretty cute drunk.

“Where exactly do you live?” Woohyun slurred.

Sunggyu nodded ahead. “Three more blocks down. I’m pretty close. It’s nice.”

Woohyun crinkled his nose. “Not bad. I’m three blocks down and a street over.” He waved his arm to the left and stumbled a few steps. 

Sunggyu bit his lip back. “So, one block over from mine? Let me walk you back then.”

Woohyun looked at Sunggyu with a (genuinely) serious look. “Would you do that?”

Sunggyu furrowed his brow. “Yeah. It’s the right thing.” He figured Woohyun wouldn’t even remember. He was just too sloppy to be left alone.

“You’re a good dude. Howon was pretty excited about you coming, yknow.”

“Oh was he?”

“Yeah he says you’ve been down and that you never go to these things but he really wanted you to, like he wanted to cheer you up because you just got dumped-”

Sunggyu flinched.

“Or whatever.” Woohyun finished, realizing the harshness of his words.

“Yeah. Basically. Howon and I have been friends for a while. He looks out for me, I guess.”

“That’s good. You need people like that.” He smiled at Sunggyu.

Sunggyu nodded. They were getting close to Sunggyu’s apartment. He pointed it out as they passed to get to the end of the street and turn. “I live there, by the way. You’re one ove-”

“WOW dude that’s INCREDIBLE!” He shouted. Sunggyu flushed, worrying his new friend’s volume would wake other residents up.

“Quiet, man.” He mumbled.

Woohyun whipped around and covered his mouth with his hands, eyes wide. “Sorry!” He mouthed, moving his hands slowly away from his face.

Sunggyu scoffed. “You’re very cute.”

Woohyun beamed as they kept walking towards his apartment.

Sunggyu was going to leave him at the front door, but he wanted to make sure he could get in, so he waited as Woohyun fumbled with keys.

“Thanks.” He said, opening the door. “I’m gonna go pass out now.” He gave a small wave and escaped into his home.

Sunggyu hunched his shoulders again and powered back to his place through the cold.

 

Sunggyu woke the next morning to a text from Howon.

“Hey! Woohyun said you walked him home last night. Thanks man, that was real decent.”

Sunggyu sighed. He felt uncomfortable and a little self conscious. He wasn’t going to let someone stumbling over their own feet drunk walk themselves home.  _ It didn’t mean anything. _ He told himself. He went to his kitchen in a huff and watched the news while sipping coffee. He didn’t have plans for the day other than being stressed about going to work in the morning.

Sunggyu had, not surprisingly, kept the same job for three years straight. “It’s comfortable.” He’d tell Howon when the suggestion that he look for something with better pay came up. “It’s stable.”

Six years ago Sunggyu had started work as a produce stocker at a Target within walking distance of his apartment at the time. He was quiet and diligent, so as not to ruffle feathers or draw attention to himself. He ended up being the only competent employee, and quickly rose through the ranks to head of produce, then shift manager, then general manager, and three years ago to regional manager of the three Target stores in the area. He never had to interact with customers and mostly made sure they didn’t lose too much money to internal theft. It was laid back and paid pretty decently.

It was true he could do more for himself, but, as he always insisted, it was comfortable.

It was a retail job, but he was technically a corporate employee, so he had the luxury of weekends off. But that always meant a series of fires he had to put out Monday morning. A lot of the times things took care of themselves, but that didn’t ease his anxiety much.

Sunggyu ran his thumb over the lip of his mug and sighed. He started to slump in his seat when an unexpected text buzzed. He pulled his phone up and furrowed his brow when he saw it was from Howon.

“Woohyun keeps asking about you. You two should hang out. But I won’t give him your number without your permission. I’m not a dick.”

Sunggyu grimaced. He grimaced again at himself grimacing.  _ Is having friends really worth it? _ He sighed and set his phone down to go shower.


	2. Lunch

(Slightly) more clear headed after washing up, he forced himself to give Howon the OK to put him in touch with Woohyun. He didn’t think they’d had a huge connection, but maybe he was too drunk to realize. “He’ll be disappointed.” Sunggyu laughed to himself.

It didn’t take long for Woohyun to text Sunggyu asking if he wanted to grab lunch. He looked at the clock and groaned. He took a few deep breaths and after about ten minutes managed to accept the invitation.

“Let’s meet at the deli at the end of your block.” Sunggyu read Woohyun’s next text out loud with a sigh before accepting, trying to sound enthusiastic with a “sure thing!” as a response.

He didn’t let himself stress about what he was going to wear like he normally would, and hardly looked in the mirror after he got dressed, which was a big step for him. He waited in silence before he thought it was an appropriate time to leave, and made his way into the cold afternoon.

“YO!” He heard behind him. Sunggyu whipped around to see Woohyun dressed like a toddler- a striped T-shirt and acid washed jeans with a light, multicolored jacket swallowing his small frame up.

“H-Hey.” Sunggyu smiled and gave a coy wave. Woohyun laughed a little. He caught up to Sunggyu and started walking with him.

“I’ve actually never gone to this deli before, but it has good Yelp reviews. I think they deliver too but Seamless never gets my location right, so I’m not sure. I think it could be my phone, the GPS might be shit. Have you eaten there before?”

Sunggyu paused, trying to take it all in. “Once, I think. I don’t really remember.”

Woohyun nodded. “Do you order in a lot? Or get groceries? I can never buy decent groceries, I just get chips and shit so I’m probably not a decent adult. You seem like you have your shit together, at least from Howon told me-”

Sunggyu snapped his head toward Woohyun.  _ Shit. _ “He’s saying shit?” He tried to play it off as a joke, but he was fuming inside. If there was one thing that stressed him out more than anything, it’s not knowing what people were saying about him.

“No, no. Not really. I mean, I asked. I just asked what you were about. Like work and stuff. You’re just real consistent and stuff, y’know? Like, you know what you’re doing every day and it’s pretty admirable.”

Sunggyu pursed his lips a bit. “Maybe.”

They approached the deli and Woohyun held the door for Sunggyu. “I mean, I take it you’re not super spontaneous is all.”

Sunggyu queued up and shook his head. “No.”

Woohyun angled up to him, the warmth of the shop enveloping the pair.

“That’s fine. A lot of people don’t. You can be too spontaneous, I think. Like, I never have consistent plans and it gets hectic. There needs to be a balance. I mean, I’m not saying you need to be more spontaneous- I really wish I could be more stable like you-”

Sunggyu just laughed, cutting Woohyun off.

“What?” Woohyun looked almost offended, but mostly confused.

“I wouldn’t call it stability.” He mumbled.

Woohyun pursed his lips, slightly embarrassed, thinking he’d offended Sunggyu. When Sunggyu went up to order Woohyun snapped out of it and slid in to pay for his food. Sunggyu blushed and looked over at the bubbly kid.

“You dropped me home last night, it’s the least I can do.”

Sunggyu blushed more and smiled sheepishly, bowing his head to hide his expression. Woohyun smiled to himself at the sight.

They moseyed to a table, content that their food arrived quickly. Woohyun didn’t really think and started eating, while Sunggyu nervously picked at his meal.

“Is it alright? Is something wrong?” Woohyun asked, mouth half packed with food.

Sunggyu looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“You’re not eating, I was just wondering if there was something wrong with your sandwich?”

Sunggyu blushed and shook his head. He became extremely self conscious of his anxious tendencies and felt tears of distress well behind his eyes. “No, it’s fine.” He started eating slowly, ignoring the heat of Woohyun’s gaze on him. _ Fuck me. _ He thought.  _ Fucking should have stayed home. _

He finally looked up and realized Woohyun was happily eating, looking out the window. “How long have you lived around here?” He asked absent mindedly.

Sunggyu look a second to register the change in mood and nodded. “I mean, in my current apartment, two years, but I’ve been in this neighborhood my whole life. My parents lived at the opposite end of the neighborhood, but they moved like 5 years ago when I got my own apartment.”

Woohyun nodded. “Your parents are still together? That’s cool. I only moved around here like, three months ago. You should show me around.” He smiled.

Sunggyu laughed nervously. “Sure. I mean, it’s not a super flashy area-”

“Yeah but like, where do people eat, where do people shop, where do people hang out, what do you do in your free time? I’m like, from across town and it’s like a different world, like there aren’t even apartments and now I move here and there’s like no houses.” He shook his head. “I feel kinda out of it around here.”

Sunggyu was starting to put the pieces together. Even Howon wasn’t from around here, so Woohyun didn’t really have anyone to show him around, and he was clearly an extrovert.

“What do people do at night? I’ve spent so much time at Howon’s house I feel like that’s the hip place.”

Sunggyu grimaced in response. That was about the most extravagant thing he ever did in terms of night life. He knew of  _ one _ bar a few blocks down, but had never actually gone. “Honestly,” he looked up at Woohyun, who was listening intently, “I don’t do much. I don’t know the hip places, I guess.”

Woohyun laughed. “Of your own neighborhood? Where do you eat? What do you do?”

Sunggyu fiddled with his straw. “I mean, I get groceries from work and I stay in a lot.” He was completely red by this point.

“I mean, I guess you’ll have to figure this stuff out with me.”

Sunggyu peeked up at Woohyun who was leaning back, smiling. Sunggyu nodded. Maybe that would be good for him.

 

The rest of lunch they chatted about their daily lives. Sunggyu worked at Target, which Howon had told Woohyun. Woohyun actually played soccer on a club team and worked at an elementary school as a music teacher. Sunggyu thought this was sweet and almost out of character for how he acted, but really admired it. They took a roundabout way home that passed Woohyun’s apartment.

“So,” Woohyun said. “What are you up to tomorrow?”

Sunggyu blushed. “Work.”

Woohyun nodded. “Maybe i’ll pop by.”

Before Sunggyu could say anything, Woohyun gave a small wave and teetered up to his apartment. Sunggyu sighed and slumped back home. They had a late lunch and spent a nice time at the deli, and the Winter made the day turn over fast, and Sunggyu found himself in the dark. He grumbled a little as he turned sharply toward his street, not noticing the person running down the street. The person smacked into him and the pair tumbled down. Sunggyu rushed to make sure the runner was ok, and sighed a breath of relief to see it was Dongwoo.

“Yo!” He said.

“Hey. What are you doing around here?” Dongwoo lived pretty far from him, so it was an odd site to see him running down his street. 

“My complex is getting fumigated. So I’m staying with Howon for a few days. You should come by tomorrow after work, we can hang. How’ve you been?”

“I’m alright. Better today, I guess.”

“Yeah I heard you were with Woohyun today.”

Sunggyu nodded. “Yeah, he got me lunch for taking him home yesterday.”

Dongwoo nudged him with his elbow. “Cute!” He gave a wink and Sunggyu shoved him in jest.

“He’s a nice guy. He’s new to the neighborhood, I guess.”

“Yeah! Show him around, dude.”

Sunggyu shrugged. “I don’t really know this area, actually.”

“Well then I guess you better learn.” He nudged him again. “That’ll help you forget ol’ what’s-her-name.”

Sunggyu groaned. He hadn’t actually thought about his ex at all today, but now a lot of emotions came flooding back. “I guess.”

“Don’t stress too much, man. Anyway come by tomorrow!” He waved and turned and ran back towards Howon’s house.

Sunggyu groaned and trekked back to his own apartment.


End file.
